


Skye (& Ward) Stole Christmas

by agenthaywood



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Gen, Skyeward Christmas Fic Fest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-21
Updated: 2016-12-21
Packaged: 2018-09-10 22:02:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8941129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agenthaywood/pseuds/agenthaywood
Summary: I would say "Think of the Grinch," but that is woefully inadequate.





	1. The Problem

It was December 19th, and all through the base, not a creature was merry, not even Fitz. It was all gloom and doom, as they worked to save the world. It was a tiring job, protecting from the sword.

 

Skye hated every second of it. The lack of Christmas spirit, not the saving the world. Skye loved that. Most of the time, there were always a few weeks that she wished she went to school for computer science and got that nice desk job with the worst part of her day being the baristas not having her order ready fast enough.

 

This absence of Christmas Spirit was taking a toll on Skye. The answer to the problem was obvious: food.

 

No one would argue that the team didn’t bond over food. To the contrary, many an argument had been settled with a buffet. Jemma and Fitz’s fights over what band to have at their wedding were solved with a boon of fettuccine alfredo. Ward’s grandmother passing away was soothed with country fried steak. Coulson being made Director was celebrated with enough pizza to feed an army.

 

Skye loves food. It is a simple fact. It is even more well known that the entire team could eat their way through a country.

 

To get everyone in the Christmas spirit, Skye knew what she had to do. The only question that it brought was what counted as Christmas food? The obvious answer was ham and mashed potatoes, but that couldn’t possibly be all there was.

 

Skye needed someone who had spent a few years with a family for Christmas to help her craft a menu. The only issue was that there weren’t a lot of people on base who had good relationships with their families. Well, all of them except one.

 

Yes, Skye is counting dysfunctional as a good relationship. Compared to the orphan, the abused, and the estranged, it was.

 

May didn’t think of it that way, but it was no less true in Skye’s mind.

 

“I am not doing that,” May shot down as she crouched into her next tai chi pose.

 

“Oh, come on, please?” Skye begged.

 

“I am not about to put on that apron. End of story.” May pushed off her knee into the next nose.

 

“I can get a different apron, May! I need someone to help me make food.” Skye bartered.

 

“Food for what?” May asked irritably.

 

“Christmas, duh. The base is dead right now. Let’s make some food and liven the place up a little.” Skye proposed.

 

“I’ll agree the joy has been a little lacking, Skye, but the food isn’t going to fix that,” May explained.

 

“OK, then what will?” Skye crossed her arms across her chest.

 

“Let me paint you a picture,” May said uncharacteristically. “Two scientists are stuck here, rather than with their families. One specialist has a family that would sooner kill him than spend the holidays with him. A Director has no family to speak of. There’s also an orphan who is trying valiantly to piece this group of people together for a little holiday cheer. What’s missing from this Hallmark movie classic?”

 

“Um… Arnold Schwarzenegger?” Skye answered weakly.

 

“Christmas miracles,” May deadpanned. “But luckily, we have an elf who can handle the job.”

 

“I don’t think Koenig is willing to get involved with the Christmas festivities. He’s already in Wyoming with his umpteen brothers.” Skye dismissed.

 

“I meant you, dumbass.” May retorted as she returned to her tai chi.

 

Skye blinked absentmindedly before her words caught up with her mouth.

 

“How in the hell am I supposed to perform _Christmas Miracles?”_ Skye asked exasperatedly.

 

“You’re a hacker, and have repeatedly shown us that you can get fifty pounds of bacon for five dollars. I’m sure you’ll think of something.” May plugged her earbuds in and shut Skye off from her.

 

Skye left the older woman to her meditation and took off for her bunk. She needed to find out how she was supposed to pull off those miracles May talked about. The closest thing that came to her mind was setting up Skype dates with Fitzsimmons’ parents and therapy trips for Ward and Coulson.

 

Neither of those was very Christmassy, however, and Skye wanted Christmassy. Before Skye knew it, she was researching how to smuggle people out of England and Scotland over to New York.

 

_Thank God, the NSA doesn’t monitor my internet searches._ Skye thought amusedly.

 

Two hours passed before an idea finally lit in Skye’s mind. Her grin was only comparable to that of a Cheshire cat. All she needed now was a helping hand, and she knew just who to call.

 

“Ward!” Skye called in the gym. The specialist was currently hitting a punching bag, sweat pouring off his tired body. Skye felt her words get caught in her throat at the sight.

 

_Jump him later. I need his help now._ Skye told herself, whilst being unable to steal a glance of his arms, pumped and glistening with sweat.

 

She would still look, that was perfectly acceptable to her plan.

 

“Yes, Skye,” Ward answered robotically, not stopping his rhythmic punches.

 

“I need your help,” She spoke happily.

 

“With what?” Ward asked.

 

“I’m planning Christmas,” Skye answered simply.

 

“I don’t really celebrate Christmas that much,” Ward said plainly.

 

“I know, that’s kind of the problem,” Skye breathed exasperatedly.

 

“How is it a problem? Less work to do,” Ward finished his punches and turned to look at Skye while wiping the sweat from his forehead with the towel around his neck.

 

“Because it’s Christmas, asshole! We should do something. It’s basically a law or something,” Skye pleaded.

 

“It's not a law. Freedom of religion and all that, but I’ll bite. What did you have in mind?” Ward walked over to the bench to grab his water bottle before giving Skye his full attention.

 

“Well, Jem and Fitz aren’t exactly happy to be spending Christmas here, instead of over in England or wherever with their families, not to mention Coulson, you, nor I actually have much in the way of families to go back to unless you count this one, which I tend to do because I like to think of us as a family of sorts,” Skye started rambling, with cheeks hot of embarrassment from the idea of telling Ward that she wanted to basically save Christmas.

 

“Skye, the point, please,” Ward interjected.

 

“Right, right, um… basically, I need your help to secure some equipment that will allow me to setup a proper way for Jemma and Fitz to talk to their parents. Not to mention we should get food, presents, a tree, lights, all the other decorations- “

 

“You want me to help you raid Target, don’t you?” Ward cut in.

 

Skye looked at the ground with a small smile.

 

“Maybe,” She whispered. “It’ll be fun.”

 

Ward sighed before looking at his watch. The date was the eighteenth of December. It was a week before Christmas. He looked up at Skye’s anxious face. She really wanted him to help her out.

 

“Fine,” he breathed.

 

Skye’s smile lit up the room. Before Ward could blink, she was wrapped around him, placing kisses on his sweaty head and muttering “you’re nasty.”

 

“Let me shower, and we’ll head out. Pick a location. Preferably one close.” Ward left the gym as Skye's fist bumped the air, already pulling her phone out of her back pocket to start researching a good place to hit.


	2. Target

Skye was safely cushioned in the semi-truck with her laptop and router. The truck was parked under the overpass an eighth of a mile from the store. It was well into the middle of the night and the lights in the parking lot were dimly illuminating the barren landscape. The accompanying sounds of horns and roaring engines told Skye all she needed to know:

 

This was their best chance.

 

“You in yet?” She spoke into her earpiece.

 

“Well, they’re still unloading the truck, so no. Can you do anything on your end?” Ward replied while watching the workers move boxes off the trailer.

 

Ward had long ICEd the driver, and he hoped he would be able to get in before it wore off. He only brought two magazines for the gun.

 

“I can set off the fire alarm? It’d get the back evacuated for a few minutes so you can at least get in?” Skye suggested while hovering her fingers over the keyboard to execute the command.

 

“Belay that, I have an idea. Can you hack the electrical grid, shut off the store for 90 seconds?” Ward smiled.

 

“Child’s play, why?” Skye answered.

 

“Do it on my mark,” Ward continued, ignoring her question.

 

Skye sighed before keying up the program. “Alright, go.”

 

“Three,”

 

A worker set a pallet jack under a tower of boxes.

 

“Two,”

 

One took a drink from a water bottle during their brief respite.

 

“One,”

 

Ward adjusted his night vision goggles, a little thing he swiped from Fitz’s work table before they left the base.

 

“Go!” He whispered sharply. Skye executed the program and within three seconds, all power was cut to the building.

 

Ward used the confusion to quickly navigate through the people into the store. He made his way into the toy aisles, making sure to avoid the flashlights that were popping on from the workers’ phones. Running across the way, hiding in the home section, Ward took a deep breath before talking to Skye again.

 

“OK, set the fire alarm off in five minutes, OK?” Ward commanded.

 

“Why in five? You’re already inside.” Skye questioned.

 

“Well, there are 30 people in here, and I have 15 shots. Care to do the math?” Ward breathed tiredly.

 

“No need to be a smartass, I am running on espresso right now.” Skye shot back.

 

Ward was already pulling wicker baskets off of the shelves and grabbing the lighter from his pocket. He flicked the fire on and the amber glow filled the small space between him and the mass of wicker.

 

“Set it off,” Ward ordered as he lit the wicker on fire and scurried from the scene into the grocery section.

 

The blaring sound of the fire alarm made the employees move out of the building. Ward had to move to the top of a set of freezers to avoid being spotted by a pair of workers sprinting for the door.

 

It took three minutes, but Ward was finally alone in the store.

 

“OK, turn the power back on and set off the sprinklers in the home section,” Ward ordered.

 

“Alright, do you need any help?” Skye asked as she also jammed the cell signals in the area. She didn’t want anyone showing up to Target for a fake fire.

 

“Bring the truck around to the front door once all the people disperse,” Ward answered.

 

He grabbed a cart and started down the seasonal area. Throwing rolls of lights, decorations, and small snowmen into the basket, Ward made his way to the tree selection.

 

“Don’t get that one!” Skye screamed into her head as Ward reached for a thin, fake tree.

 

“Why not?” Ward questioned.

 

“Because it’s weak! We need a strong tree. Get the one on the top shelf.” Skye answered.

 

“The one on top- did you hack the cameras?” Ward accused.

 

“Maybe,” Skye replied weakly as she zoomed in on Ward’s butt.

 

Ward sighed before hefting the tree box into the cart, being careful to not break the decorations underneath it. He turned the cart into the electronics section. Carefully, he chose a small camera.

 

“You’re going to want pictures of this, right?” Ward asked as he picked the lock to the case housing the items.

 

“Yeah, but I was just going to use my phone…” Skye replied as she disabled the security system for the cameras.

 

_What would he do without me?_

“Probably get through my workouts with no interruptions,” Ward answered, showing Skye that she had voiced her thought aloud.

 

“Are you saying you don’t like adjusting my hips every day?” Skye smirked. “Quite frankly, I’m offended. I work so hard on my fitness for you.”

 

“Oh, I appreciate getting to put my hands near your ass every time, make no mistake of that,” Ward laughed as he undid the straps on the device holding the camera box.

 

“Good, now hurry up. There’s no heat in this damn truck,” Skye shivered.

 

“I left you some blankets,” Ward reminded her.

 

“I know, and thank you,” Skye pulled the one she had wrapped around her tighter.

 

Ward wheeled the cart with all the Christmas decorations near the front door before grabbing another one and heading back toward the food section.

 

“What kind of food are we grabbing?” Ward asked as he threw a few gallons of eggnog into the cart.

 

“We need a couple of hams, turkeys, a lot of veggies, and some baked stuff,” Skye answered.

 

“Alright,” Ward responded as he went down the aisles throwing hearty amounts of food into the cart before making his way back to the front of the store. “How’s extraction looking?”

 

“I’m bringing it around now,” Skye already had her laptop packed up and was opening the trailer attached to the truck. Inside was a medium sized U-Haul truck. She climbed into the driver seat and started the engine.

 

“Oh thank God, a heater,” Skye mumbled as the hot air started blowing on her cold arms.

 

“Not used to these winters, are you?” Ward chuckled.

 

“I am from California! The worst it got was thirty degrees,” Skye snarled.

 

“You should have grown up in Massachusetts. I can’t remember when it got above thirty degrees during the winter,” Ward joked.

 

“No thank you, my ass will stay in a desert climate,” Skye dismissed as she pulled the U-Haul into the Target parking lot.

 

“Fair enough,” Ward agreed as he grabbed a third cart for a second trip to the electronic section.

 

Television sets were overlooked in favor of the three remaining video game consoles in the store. Grabbing them and a few games for each, Ward threw them in the cart along with a couple of webcams and smart watches.

 

“Are you almost done?” Skye asked impatiently as she backed the truck up to the front doors of the store.

 

“Almost,” Ward answered as he grabbed a small box and put it in his jacket pocket. “Is the truck in position?”

 

“Ready and waiting,” Skye assured.

 

“Good, open the door please,” Ward requested.

 

“Give me a minute, tough guy, let me get setup in here,” Skye pulled her laptop out of the bag and looked for the window containing the door locks.

 

The buzz on the panel let Ward know he could open the door. Skye had the truck sitting right on the curb with the engine running ready to go. He pulled up the door to the back and slid down the ramp. Skye hopped out of the truck with her blanket around her shoulders.

 

“Well empress, we have the goodies, where to now?” Ward joked as he wheeled the carts into the truck.

 

“Ha, ha, actually I was thinking a McDonald’s run if that’s OK with you? Jemma made dinner tonight,” Skye shivered as the cold air hit her again.

 

“Alright, get back in the truck and try to warm up,” Ward agreed.

 

Skye bounced her way back into the truck as Ward closed the door of the trailer. Once he climbed in, Skye shuffled closely toward him in an attempt to warm himself up.

 

“How are you not freezing?” Skye’s teeth chattered in her mouth.

 

“I’m used to it,” Ward replied as he put the truck in gear and started towards the truck stop McDonald’s.

 

“So what are you wanting?” Ward asked.

 

“McDouble, McFlurry, and a ten piece McNugget,” Skye spoke excitedly.

 

“Was dinner that bad?” Ward was out with Mack and Fitz having pizza when Jemma handled dinner.

 

“It was pink spaghetti sauce on top of stiff noodles,” Skye answered.

 

“Welcome to McDonald’s, order whenever you’re ready,” the drive thru lady’s voice came out over the speaker.


	3. Wonderland

Decorating the base took the better part of the 21st through the 24th, but to Skye, that was well worth the effort. The stairs had garland and bows going around the banister. There was a reef in every room. The tree was set up in the corner right by the couch in the lounge. Presents were wrapped up and under the tree, and the eggnog was in the fridge and happily being guzzled down by the team.

 

Skye was happy, for the most part. She was still freezing. It was nearing midnight, officially making it Christmas Day, but Skye was unable to sleep. The base had no real heating to speak of, so Skye was left with a bunch of blankets and leaving her computer running in an attempt to generate what little heat she could.

 

It was an epic failure.

 

Giving up on sleep, Skye decided a little bit of roaming was in order. A good walk always made her able to sleep a little easier. The floor was like ice to her bare feet, but she adjusted after a few minutes.

 

Skye went to the only other person she knew would be up at this hour. Ward’s door wasn’t locked, much to her surprise. She opened it and there he was on his bed reading from a tattered war novel.

 

“Hey,” Skye said quietly, hoping to not wake up Hunter who slept right next door.

 

“I’m not helping you raid Wal-Mart, you’re on your own,” Ward said firmly.

 

Skye chuckled before walking into the room and closing the door. She made her way over to his bed where she sat down on the unoccupied side and pulled the covers over her freezing body.

 

“I was just cold, that’s all,” Skye assured him.

 

“Still not used to Northern winters?” Ward asked half-heartedly.

 

“Not in the least,” Skye burrowed under the covers with a playful smile.

 

Ward placed the bookmark against the spine of the book and closed it before giving Skye his full attention.

 

“So what brings you by?” He asked laid himself down fully.

 

Skye just shrugged her shoulders and moved closer to Ward before resting her head on his shoulder and curling her fingers around his arm.

 

“Ah, I get it. You’re here to leech all of my warmth,” Ward chuckled as he wrapped that same arm around her, allowing Skye to nestle against his chest and herself in the bed.

 

“Maybe,” Skye whispered, already falling asleep.

 

“Skye,” Ward whispered.

 

“Yeah,” she mumbled, her face burying itself into his chest.

 

“Merry Christmas,” he said.

 

“Merry Christmas,” she muttered.

 

\--

 

The following morning the pair found themselves woken up by an excited Jemma ushering everybody out of bed. Skye took a little more coaxing, given how she fell asleep rather late compared to everybody else.

 

“Go away,” Skye burrowed further into Ward’s chest.

 

“Skye, it’s Christmas, get out of bed and come eat something. May cooked for once.” Jemma spoke excitedly.

 

“She what?” Skye shot up.

 

“She cooked, as in bacon, eggs, and pancakes. Come on!” Fitz shouted from the door.

 

Skye scurried out of the room, leaving Ward there with a small smile on his face. He got out of bed and started his process of getting ready for the morning. If he moved a little quicker than normal, one could assume it was because he knew if he didn’t, there wouldn’t be any food left.

 

Skye and Fitzsimmons were tearing into the food with reckless abandon. It had been months since a homecooked meal had turned out decent. Usually, it was takeout, microwave, or some combination of the two that left everyone feeling full but queasy.

 

Ward walked out in jeans and a t-shirt and Skye waved him over. She had saved him a plate with a hearty portion of everything. Well, everything except the bacon. Skye was chewing on what might’ve been the third piece she stole off of his plate.

 

Once breakfast was over, everyone adjourned to the lounge to open the presents that were available. While Jemma and Fitz were enjoying the completely unlocked phones to make some calls to their missed family members, Skye poked Ward on the shoulder.

 

“What’s up?” he asked as he turned around. In his eyes was a mistletoe.

 

“Really?” He smirked.

 

“It’s not my fault I’m short, but you know the drill,” Skye defended. She curled her fingers around the back of his neck and brought him down to kiss her.

 

The kiss quickly turned to making out and Skye was in his lap a moment later. They stopped once someone cleared their throat. Skye’s cheeks were red with embarrassment while Ward’s were flushed with arousal.

 

“Maybe wait until we leave the room, or not at all? I prefer not at all,” Coulson spoke up from his spot in the armchair where he had unwrapped a Captain America biography.

 

“This is embarrassing,” Skye muttered.

 

“Yes, it is,” May piped in.

 

“Merry Christmas?” Skye offered weakly, not moving from Ward’s lap.

 

“Merry Christmas, now get off your boyfriend’s lap,” Coulson ordered.

 

“It’s freezing!” Skye complained.

 

“Get a blanket!” Coulson fired back.

 

And that is the story of Christmas on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.


End file.
